Alex
April 29th, 2012, 10:29 PM
This ride is still in progress, but it's been quite interesting already. I'm out on the first real ride with my new steed (K1600GT (http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=94006)); the ride should be about 2000 miles all told. I had about 1000 miles on the bike when I started the ride. Here's the problem - after riding to Death Valley at speed, with a jaunt back and forth to Vegas, I used much more of the rear tire than I would have ever expected. This morning when I stopped for lunch, I looked at the rear tire and I was already at the cords! :eek:
I was in the middle of nowhere, on a Sunday afternoon, with a tire that couldn't go more than 10 - 20 miles before it was going to burst. The nearest BMW shops (20 miles away and 50 miles away) are both closed Sun/Mon. A friend helped me locate a Cycle Gear in Victorville about 10 miles away, with a tire that would work. Slightly different size, but it would do. I slapped a few layers of duct tape on the tire to cover the cords, and was slowly on my way to the Cycle Gear. But they couldn't install the tire, unless I could remove the wheel from the bike; they don't do any R/R. The bike has no real toolkit, including what is necessary to remove the rear wheel. So - I was incredibly lucky that the Harley dealership in that town decided to open this Sunday to help out any travelers coming back from Laughlin. So I wrapped the tire around my midsection, rode over to the Harley dealership, and they did have the tools (and the willingness) to remove the wheel and get the tire mounted. Couldn't balance it due to their machine not having the right BMW wheel adapter, but that's not critical. I was at 2092 miles on the bike at the time! It was fun hanging out with some of the other folks waiting for service. One of them owns a handful of BMW's as well.
What killed the tire was a whole bunch of relatively high speed running, and aggressive acceleration on all of the back roads. Also, the bike is spec'd with Metzeler Z8's, which are reasonably soft and quick wearing. The rear is now a Pilot Road 3, and I'm hoping to get closer to 5k/tire on average, but we'll see.
They finished the bike within a reasonable time, and I was soon on my way. I still wanted to do some of the fun roads planned on the way to San Diego, so I aimed for the Angeles Crest. I entered it by Wrightwood, and started to head East. I had made it 15 miles or so, when I came up upon a ranger with lights on, blocking the road. Evidently there was a serious motorcycle accident right around the corner, and the ranger said the road would be blocked from 1 to 3 hours. (link (http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/04/29/motorcyclist-killed-another-injured-in-angeles-crest-highway-crash/)) So - I had to backtrack, and took Big Pine road out just for something different, but soon ended almost right where I left I-15 in the first place. Made it to San Diego within a reasonable time.
The new tire feels a bit different as it's not quite the right size (190/50 instead of 190/55), so the rear end of the bike feels like it's squatting a bit. But it still provides more than enough cornering clearance, and I'm grateful they had something that close in stock.
Will be down here for a few days, and then looking forward to a whole bunch of different fun roads on the way back. (Cuddy Valley, Cerro Noroeste, 58, 229, 25, and a few more...) :thumbup:
I have pics of the tire, and of the bike, but they are currently trapped on the camera until I get back to home base. :o
I was in the middle of nowhere, on a Sunday afternoon, with a tire that couldn't go more than 10 - 20 miles before it was going to burst. The nearest BMW shops (20 miles away and 50 miles away) are both closed Sun/Mon. A friend helped me locate a Cycle Gear in Victorville about 10 miles away, with a tire that would work. Slightly different size, but it would do. I slapped a few layers of duct tape on the tire to cover the cords, and was slowly on my way to the Cycle Gear. But they couldn't install the tire, unless I could remove the wheel from the bike; they don't do any R/R. The bike has no real toolkit, including what is necessary to remove the rear wheel. So - I was incredibly lucky that the Harley dealership in that town decided to open this Sunday to help out any travelers coming back from Laughlin. So I wrapped the tire around my midsection, rode over to the Harley dealership, and they did have the tools (and the willingness) to remove the wheel and get the tire mounted. Couldn't balance it due to their machine not having the right BMW wheel adapter, but that's not critical. I was at 2092 miles on the bike at the time! It was fun hanging out with some of the other folks waiting for service. One of them owns a handful of BMW's as well.
What killed the tire was a whole bunch of relatively high speed running, and aggressive acceleration on all of the back roads. Also, the bike is spec'd with Metzeler Z8's, which are reasonably soft and quick wearing. The rear is now a Pilot Road 3, and I'm hoping to get closer to 5k/tire on average, but we'll see.
They finished the bike within a reasonable time, and I was soon on my way. I still wanted to do some of the fun roads planned on the way to San Diego, so I aimed for the Angeles Crest. I entered it by Wrightwood, and started to head East. I had made it 15 miles or so, when I came up upon a ranger with lights on, blocking the road. Evidently there was a serious motorcycle accident right around the corner, and the ranger said the road would be blocked from 1 to 3 hours. (link (http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/04/29/motorcyclist-killed-another-injured-in-angeles-crest-highway-crash/)) So - I had to backtrack, and took Big Pine road out just for something different, but soon ended almost right where I left I-15 in the first place. Made it to San Diego within a reasonable time.
The new tire feels a bit different as it's not quite the right size (190/50 instead of 190/55), so the rear end of the bike feels like it's squatting a bit. But it still provides more than enough cornering clearance, and I'm grateful they had something that close in stock.
Will be down here for a few days, and then looking forward to a whole bunch of different fun roads on the way back. (Cuddy Valley, Cerro Noroeste, 58, 229, 25, and a few more...) :thumbup:
I have pics of the tire, and of the bike, but they are currently trapped on the camera until I get back to home base. :o